


The Eye of the Beholder

by BecauseEveryoneNeedsABreak



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Chaptered, Drugs, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Liam-centric, M/M, Mysterious Zayn, Original Character(s), Prostitution, Rough Sex, Smut, Swearing, just a lot of sex, larry - Freeform, ziam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-04 18:33:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3081449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BecauseEveryoneNeedsABreak/pseuds/BecauseEveryoneNeedsABreak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam Payne lives a rough life. His mother died when he was only six years old, and his father hasn't stopped drinking since. The day Liam graduated high school, his father kicked him out of his house. With nowhere to go and no one to rely on; Liam's last resort was to sell his body to the next paying customer in hopes to put a roof over his head and put food on the table. One day, Liam meets a man whom has the potential to change his life completely, or not at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reality

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a chaptered fic. I will do my best to update regularly, but i'm not perfect. This fic is a little brutal to show the harsh realities of life. Liam's story is told through out the entire fic, so not everything may be explained right away. I did my best with editing, but again, i'm not perfect. I hope you guys enjoy, and feel free to leave any feedback or suggestions.

Liam woke up cold, and in pain. His body shivered instinctively from the constant breeze outside. Liam felt like his head was pounding out of his ears. He slowly sat up, and groaned, bringing his hands up to his head because it seriously felt like his head was going to explode. It took him a minute, but he eventually opened his eyes. Liam looked at his surroundings, seeing he was in a dirty, old motel room. His face screwed up in confusion until he remembered last nights events. Liam fought back the urge to cry, instead he slowly crawled his way out of the over used mattress. It couldn't be called a bed, it was just a smelly mattress placed on the filthy carpet. Liam stood up on shaky legs and prepared himself for the trip to the bathroom. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe; he slowly started moving his right leg, his stronger leg since the other one has a huge gash in the knee. After that small step, Liam grew confident. He was so close to the bathroom that only a few more big steps and he could be leaning against the sink. Liam took one more shaky, long breathe before finally making his way to his destination. Two steps in and he almost fell straight into the cum filled carpet. Luckily, Liam's arm found the wall nearest to him and he was able to use the hard surface as leverage. The brown haired boy took a moment to catch his breathe, before he finally waddled to the motel's bathroom. He let out a sigh of relief once he reached the sink. 

Liam looked at himself in the mirror, and grew disgusted. His eyes were black, and puffy. His hair was all over the place, and he had a huge cut that traveled from his forehead to his cheek bone. Liam didn't even want to look at the remaining parts of his body because then he would just get that churning feeling in his stomach again. So he just opts for washing his face. Liam grabs the torn up wash cloth and gently wipes his face with it. He sets the towel down and begins to ready himself for a dreaded shower, because he really needs it. Right when he was about to go through the agony of trying to pry the clothes from his body, he hears a bang on the door. Liam hopes whoever is at the door just leaves, but the banging continues followed by a loud voice, "Hey! I know you're in there you little punk! You owe me money!"

Liam sighs, and fights back the urge to throw up. He doesn't have the money the guy is yelling about. He lost it last night when a group of guys thought that Liam's pockets were an open bank. He tried to fight them off, but that only served to piss them off more. That's how he ended up in a shitty motel room, on the wrong side of town, beaten to a pulp. Luckily Liam still had a few extra bucks in his account that he could use to find a place to crash. Either Liam slept for an extra day and that's why the guy is yelling at him because he didn't pay for it. Or Liam just really pissed someone off and that's just how his life goes. 

Liam is contemplating to go out the motel window to escape this guy, but then he realizes it's no use. By the time Liam would even make it to the window, the guy would have beaten the door down. As Liam was thinking out his other options, the door is slammed open by a very big, and very angry looking man standing in the door way. "You," he points at Liam and starts making his way over to the smaller boy. "Did you not here me hollering at you boy?" He stands tall over Liam, leering down at him like he was the lion and Liam was a helpless deer. 

"I-I, I'm so-orry sir. I was just having some tr-" Liam stutters.

"Shut up!" The man interrupts, "I don't want to hear your bullshit," he yells. Liam is practically shivering because of how scared he is. This guy is huge, he's at least six feet tall with huge muscles and thick, lumberjack legs that could crush Liam if he wanted. 

"L-look I-" Liam trys.

"I said shut up!" The man barks and Liam shrinks back, taking a few steps away from this guy. "You owe me money, kid," the man continues, "now do you got the 250 or not?"

Liam honestly doesn't know what would be worse; making a run for it and getting caught and beat down by this guy. Or just telling him he has no money, and get the shit beaten out of him anyway. He goes for the latter, "Look, I underst-stand why you would be really u-upset with me. B-but, maybe we could just be r-rational about the situation and-"

"Excuse me?" the man is really giving Liam the death stare now. "Are you trying to tell me that you ain't got my money?" the man forces out with pure venom. 

If Liam were scared before, then he is really fucking terrified now. The guy backs Liam up into the wall, and grabs him by the neck of his shirt lifting his feet off the ground. "Are you telling me you don't have my money?" The man is practically breathing down Liam's bruised face, making Liam whimper in fear. The smaller boy squeezes his eyes shut and tries to turn his head as far away from the man's as possible. 

The man chuckles low, after witnessing Liam's weak attempt at keeping his distance. He lets Liam go and takes a step back, still chuckling. Liam plops down onto the ground, falling on his butt, his legs too weak to catch himself. "So here's how this is gonna go," the man starts, "you obviously don't have my money," he pauses waiting for Liam to deny or agree with that statement. Liam just stares wide eyed up at the man from the floor. 

"Nobody owes me money," he continues, "they all pay up someway or another. And since you don't look like you're worth anything," Liam is really hoping this isn't going where he thinks it's going. "And it's not like anybody is," the man glances around the room, "giving a shit about you. Looks like that leaves one option," the man doesn't even continue, he just starts for Liam. 

On instinct Liam tries to run, or really crawl, away. But before he could even attempt that the man grabs a huge chunk of Liam's hair and drags him over to the mattress. Liam cries out in pain and tries to pry the man's meaty fingers from his hair, the bigger man just laughs at his attempt and slaps Liam in the face. The man throws Liam onto the filthy mattress, and immediately follows after. He grabs Liam's wrists and pins them above his head, his legs sitting on either side of the smaller boy's waist. All the while Liam is screaming, and trying his best to push the bigger man off of him. 

"Stop your squirming boy," the man leers.

"Please, please get off me!" Liam screams, "I'll do anything, just please get off!"

The man ignores him and uses only one of his massive hands to hold Liam's wrists above his head. He uses his other hand to reach for Liam's belt. Liam's screams became impossibly louder, and his attempts to escape became futile.

"Shut up boy!" the man grew annoyed with Liam's struggles and slapped him really hard across the face. Liam's head snapped to the side, and he blinked a couple times to get his vision back. The smaller boy could feel blood trickle down his chin, no doubt that his lip was bleeding.

"Please," Liam tried weakly as the man got his belt off and was now going for his pants. Liam silently cried while the man pulled his pants down around his ankles.

"Such a sweet boy," the man cooed, "so pretty," the bigger man was rubbing circles into Liam's thighs, staring up and down Liam's body with his predatory eyes.

Liam's attempts to escape became little to none; he knew he had no way out of this. Liam turned his head to the side and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping this night mare would be over soon. Just as the big man was about to pull down Liam's underwear, a banging sounded through the room. Everything stopped as the sound of someone banging on the door continued. The man above Liam pressed his finger to Liam's lips, "Shhhh," he whispered. Liam looked up at him wide eyed and hoped that whoever was at the door would bust it open. 

"What's going on in there?" someone shouted from the other side of the door, "I heard some shouting." 

The burly man stared daggers at the door, growing more pissed at the second at the guy interrupting his time with the sweet, younger boy. The boy beneath him shook, and had tears in his eyes. The bigger man shoved his meaty hand over Liam's mouth in order to keep him quiet. Liam whimpered at the force of it, and his tears fell down his cheeks.

"Hello?" the man outside said, "Is everything alright in there?" the man knocked again.

Liam and the man just stared at the door, wondering what this guy was going to do. Liam hoped he would try to come in and help. While the bigger man wished he would walk away. 

"Look," the man outside sighed, "I know someone is in there, and I heard some shouting. I don't want to cause any problems, but I was staying in the room next door and I couldn't just sit there and listen to this without doing something about it," the man paused in his speech and Liam could hear what sounded like a door knob rustling. 

"Now," the man outside continued, "I'm going to come in. I don't mean to intrude, but I just want to make sure everything is okay." 

The door knob was turning slowly, Liam and the man above him held their breathe. Suddenly the door whooshed open, and a tall, slim, dark-haired man walked through the door. The man saw the scene before him and immediately grew angry. He rushed over to the mattress, and shoved the big man off of the trembling boy. 

The dark-haired man rushed over to the giant on the floor and kicked his head in. "You stay the fuck off him, you pig!" the darker man shouted. 

Liam shook from his position on the mattress, he looked up at the slim man standing over the man who had just attacked him. The darker haired man had yet to address Liam, he was just staring at the big man laying unconscious on the floor with a look of utter disgust. After what seemed like hours, in reality minutes, the darker haired man looked over at Liam and his expression went from disgust to pity. 

"Hey," he reached for Liam.

The smaller boy flinched away from the hand, and the taller man sighed. "Look," he said, "I'm not going to hurt you. Please, let me help you. You don't look so good." As he said this the taller man gestured to Liam's busted face and trembling body. Liam only shook his head in confirmation as a response. 

The darker haired man gave Liam a once over and saw his pants weren't on. He looked around the room and saw them laying on the ground beside the mattress. The taller man bent down and retrieved the smaller boy's pants and carefully handed them to Liam. Liam took his pants quickly and grew extremely embarrassed as for being half naked in front of this stranger. He looked at the slim man expectantly and the man turned around as to give the young boy some privacy. 

Liam put his pants on as quickly as he could, and tried to ignore the deep pain that's shooting through his body. "Okay," Liam whispered once he was fully clothed. The dark haired man turned around and gave the smaller boy a soft smile in hopes to ease the situation. 

"I'm gonna call the main office down stairs so they can take care of this asshole," the taller man glanced at the still unconscious body on the ground. Liam nodded at the man once he was done staring down his attacker. 

"Umm," the dark haired man mumbled, he seemed nervous all the sudden and Liam couldn't fathom why. The tall man rubbed the back of his neck and said, "If you want," he paused, coughing awkwardly into his fist. 

"I-If you want," he continued, "You can come to my room, and I can help get you cleaned up. I don't feel right leaving you like this and it would really give me some peace of mind if I knew you were taken care of," he looked at Liam through his lashes and nervously bit his lip.

Liam didn't know if he could trust this guy. He was some stranger after all, but at the end of the day he did save Liam. Liam didn't even want to think about what would have happened if this taller man didn't come in and stop the situation. He didn't look dangerous, heck, he actually looked kind, lovely even. If this were in any other situation Liam would say he was extremely attractive, okay he still is attractive even in this fucked up situation. But, he didn't want to think about anything to do with men at the moment. Just thinking about any kind of sexual contact made him sick to his stomach. Liam figured there wasn't any better option, and it's not like he's in any shape to take care of himself. So that only really only leaves one option. 

Liam has been looking down at the ground while contemplating his decision, so when he finally did give his rescuer an answer, he looked up. "Okay," Liam whispered. 

The dark-haired man smiled a tooth rotting smile and held his hand out for Liam to take, "I'm Zayn," he says, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

 

~*~*~


	2. Shelter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to put up this chapter. My life has been kinda hectic lately. I'll do my best to upload sooner next time. I'm sorry if this chapter is a little lame, I promise the next one will be much more eventful. Thank you to all who have read my first chapter. Again, you may leave comments or suggestions if you would like. I hope you enjoy:)

 

 

“Whoa easy there. It’s okay I got you. We’re almost there. Okay, I’m going to just let you lean on the wall for a second while I get my keys.”

Zayn took his arm that was around Liam’s waist and used it to gently place the smaller boy against the wall. Liam rested his head against the wall and watched Zayn pick his keys from his back pocket.

Liam contemplated how his life ended up here. Leaning against a wall, waiting for a gorgeous man to open his room in this shitty motel complex, so he could clean him up after a scary, lumberjack man almost raped him.  The situation he ended up in was obvious, it was just another day in the life of Liam Payne. Thinking about how he ended up with this life was a bit of a rough patch for Liam. He tried to block out as much of his past as he could. The past was in the past, there’s no point in dwelling in it. Liam figured that only focusing on what lies ahead was easier than focusing on how shitty his life was and currently is. Focusing on the future is the only thing that got him by nowadays.

But, he guesses in therapy, some snotty nosed man/woman will tell you to find the source of your pain. Liam thought that was a bunch of crap. How does focusing on his pain help? Even though the idea was completely ridiculous to Liam, he figured it’s better to try anything rather than sitting around and letting the problem grow. So, while this man, this sweet, beautiful man took him into his rather dirty motel room and gently sat him down on the mattress and tended to his wounds, he could visit some of his past.

Liam took the moment Zayn was walking into the restroom, saying something about a medical kit, to think about it.

He thought back to the day his mother died. He didn’t quite understand what was happening at first. Liam was only six of course, so processing the fact that his mom was gone forever was a little difficult for a young child to contemplate. He remembers sitting in his room playing with his Woody doll and pretending to arrest his other random stuffed animals for whatever reason; when Liam heard a knock on the door coming from down stairs. He figured his father answered the door since there was the sound of the door squeaking open and some hushed voices talking. Little Liam crawled outside his bedroom door and made his way to the top of the stairs to hopefully hear what was going on. He couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying, he only caught on to a couple of words before his father closed the door, words like, “I’m sorry sir.”

After his father closed the door on the people outside he turned around and placed his head in his hands. Liam heard his father sigh really loudly followed by ragged breathing. Liam stood up from his crouched position at the top of the stairs and walked down them to stand in front of his father.

“Daddy?” Liam whispered.

His father didn’t respond, he just walked straight passed Liam, without a glance. The little boy watched his father walk into the kitchen, toward the fridge and grab a beer. That was the first time his father straight out ignored him, little did he know that wasn’t the last.

Liam later figured out his mother was dead by his father murmuring it to him drunk after Liam constantly nagged him to find out what was going on. That was when he started hating his father.

Liam was interrupted out of his thoughts when Zayn picked a particularly painful spot to clean; he hissed in pain.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Zayn apologized.

“It’s okay,” Liam said.

“He really messed you up didn’t he?” Zayn asked while wiping blood from Liam’s brow with some tissue.

Liam winced, “Yeah, I guess. This wasn’t all him though.”

“Oh?” Zayn grabbed a band-aid from the medical kit and slid it over the cut on Liam’s brow.

“Yeah, there was these group of guys last night who thought I looked like I needed a beating,” Liam shrugged.

Zayn tensed and furrowed his brows, “That’s bullshit. You don’t deserve that,” Zayn paused looking into the younger boy’s eyes, “You don’t deserve any of this.”

Liam shyly looked away from Zayn’s watchful gaze, “I-It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

Zayn got up from his position on the floor and sat next to Liam on the bed. The older boy took Liam’s hand that was lying limply on his lap and gave him a comforting squeeze. “I don’t know how things ended up this way for you, but even though I don’t know you, I know that you deserve better,”

Liam took a moment to stare into this man’s eyes. He seemed so genuine. Liam has met a lot of people in his life, and this guy, whom he didn’t even know was helping him. Most people Liam come across are never even nice to him. But, I guess that’s because most of the people he comes into contact with are greedy men who want nothing more than to have Liam on his knees.

“Thank you Zayn, no one has ever said something like that to me,” Liam smiled softly. Zayn returned the smile and gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. Liam looked down at their linked fingers and grew shy, his cheeks turning a light pink.

“Anyway,” Liam looked back up at Zayn, “Why don’t we talk about you? What’s a fine lad like yourself doing in a shit place like this?”

Zayn laughed awkwardly, “Well, it’s actually pretty embarrassing.”

“Come on it can’t be that bad,” Liam prompted knocking Zayn’s shoulder.

“It’s actually really stupid,” the older boy grinned, “I got kicked out of my dorm at Uni because my friend decided it was a good idea to throw a party at 3 in the morning.”

“And you just let him do that?” Liam asked.

“Well, it’s not like I was opposing,” Zayn cackled, “My friend Louis can be extremely convincing when he wants to be.”

Liam raised his eyebrows, “Apparently so, how come you’re staying here though?” Liam asked curiously.

“Well, I mean, I would stay with Louis but he lives with his boyfriend Harry, and I don’t think I could stomach hearing them fuck in the next room over every night,” Zayn replies.

“Oh, right,” Liam nods awkwardly.

“And, yeah, I don’t get paid until Monday so I’m kind of stuck here for the time being,” Zayn shrugs.

Liam nods again, and looks down at his lap. Of course Zayn is here for a simple reason like that. He’s not Liam. He doesn’t live his life on the streets and wander from place to place. Zayn has a stable life. He goes to University, has friends, and a normal job. Liam grew a little envious of him, he only wishes that he could have had the same opportunities as Zayn, or anybody really. Liam immediately shook the thought away. He couldn’t waste his time thinking about the things he can never have. Liam can only focus on the now; he will forget his petty bull shit and accept the life he has. That’s the only way he can survive.

“Hey, you okay?” Zayn asks shaking him out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Yeah, m’good.” Liam smiled sadly at Zayn through his eyelashes.

“Why don’t you stay here tonight?” Zayn asked bluntly.

“W-What?” Liam’s eyes practically popped out of its sockets.

“I know you don’t know me very well, but you would only be staying in the room right next door, and this way, if you stay with me, I’ll know you’ll be safe,” Zayn smiled shyly at the younger boy and brushed his thumb over Liam’s hand.

Liam shivered at the gesture and smiled back at Zayn. “Okay,” Liam whispered.

Zayn positively beamed, and immediately stood up from the bed, releasing Liam’s hand. Liam tried not to feel dissapointed about that. “If you want, you can use my shower to get cleaned up,” Zayn suggested.

“Umm,” Liam only now realized how gross he actually felt, “yeah, I probably should,” Liam grimaced at his own stench. Liam attempted to get up from the mattress but his legs failed him and he ended up falling into Zayn’s arms.

“Woah,” Zayn said, “Looks like you’re still a little unsteady on your feet huh?” Zayn chuckled, moving his arms to the smaller boy’s waist. His thumb rubbing absently into Liam’s hip. Liam looked up into Zayn’s eyes and grew a little nervous. He knew he was playing a dangerous game. Staying here, with a complete stranger and trusting him completely. He knew he was being completely stupid by accepting Zayn’s invitation so quickly, but he couldn’t find himself to care.

“I should probably head to the bathroom now,” Liam averted his gaze from Zayn’s face.

“Right, yeah,” Zayn mumbled looking away as well.

Zayn let go of Liam’s waste, and the younger boy slowly started limping toward the restroom. Liam stumbled a bit halfway there, but he was able to compose himself at the last second.

“Do you need help?” Zayn asked. When Liam almost fell over, Zayn moved quickly to catch him if he fell. He was standing only a few feet away from the smaller boy.

“N-No, I’m fine,” Liam answered. He continued on toward the bathroom with a nervous shake.

Once Liam made it to the bathroom, he smiled lastly at Zayn and shut the door. Liam knew this was going to be a difficult task to accomplish, so he proceeded with caution.

The first thing Liam did was go for his pants, he figured that would be the easiest one since he doesn’t have to move his body too much. He sat down on the lid of the toilet seat and unbuttoned his jeans. He starts to pull his jeans down and lift his butt so he can pull them down. By the time he got his jeans around his ankles and onto the floor, he was panting. Liam stands and proceeds to take the rest of his clothes off. It was a gruelling process, but he finally managed to get all of his clothes off.

Liam blushes once he realizes he’s standing naked in a foreign bathroom that belongs to a complete stranger. “What am I doing?” Liam asks himself.

Out of all the things Liam has done in his life, this has to be the weirdest. He shrugs the thought off and opts to get into the shower. The water wasn’t exactly refreshing considering it’s a rundown motel. But, Liam is desperate, and really dirty so he accepts the cold water. Every part of his body stings so he tries to make this process as short as possible. He scrubs lightly, and makes sure to only brush the most painful areas.

Liam finishes his shower in under 15 minutes, and immediately shivers as he steps out of the shower. He grabs the towel hanging from the stand, and wraps it around himself. He dries quickly enough and realises he actually doesn’t have any fresh clothes to wear. “Shit,” Liam mumbles.

He wraps the towel around his waist, and sticks his head out of the door, “Umm, Zayn?” Liam calls.

Zayn comes into Liam’s view immediately, “What’s the matter? Is something wrong?” Zayn asks frantically.

Liam smiles to himself, “No, I uhh,” Liam feels extremely embarrassed, “I don’t have any, umm, clothes.”

“Oh,” Zayn’s cheeks heat up instinctively, “Right, uhh, you can just borrow some of mine, I’ll just go grab. I’ll just- yeah-” Zayn makes a lot of aborted motions and finally turns around stiffly to grab some clothes.

He comes back a minute later with a sweater and some sweats. Liam nods appreciatively, and takes the clothes from Zayn.

Liam dresses quickly, and fixes himself. He looks at himself in the mirror, and he still looks like crap but at least he doesn’t have dried blood on his face anymore.

He walks out of the bathroom, and sees Zayn sitting on the bed. “Hey,” Liam waves lamely.

Zayn looks up and smiles, “Hey,” he says back, “Did you want to-” Zayn gestures to the bed and Liam’s heart leaps.

Is that what this all has been leading up to? A shag? This whole time Zayn was only being nice to him so he could get into Liam’s pants. Liam almost wants to cry, he should have known. It was too good to be true. Why would anyone actually want to help Liam without expecting anything in return. Liam feels so stupid, all he wants to do is curl up and cry.

“You can sleep if you want. I’ll take the floor if it makes you more comfortable,” Zayn interrupts his thoughts.

“What?” Liam asks, completely confused.

“I said, you can sleep on the mattress and I’ll sleep on the floor. You should be as comfortable as possible,” Zayn says.

“Oh,” Liam feels like a right jack ass. He should have given Zayn the benefit of the doubt. Liam gratefully smiles at Zayn and goes to sit down on the mattress.

Zayn politely moves out of the way, and lets Liam rest against the stiff pillows. Zayn grabs the comforter and pulls it over Liam, tucking him in.

“Good night Liam,” Zayn says. He lays himself down onto the makeshift bed he made for himself while Liam was in the bathroom, and gets as comfortable as he can.

“Good night Zayn,” Liam whispers.

Zayn closes his eyes with a small smile on his face, sleep coming to him quickly.

Liam lays awake in the dark, his mind moving too quickly to fall asleep. He knows what he has to do. Liam knows that he can’t stay, he can’t pull Zayn into his messed up life. That would be too selfish of him.

**  
Liam eventually falls asleep with one thought on his mind, he has to leave in the morning without Zayn knowing.**

 

**~*~*~**


	3. Survival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter deals with Liam's anxiety, and his life on the job, so fairly be warned. If you guys want to leave any comments or suggestions, you are more than welcome. Thank you to all who have read my story so far, it means a lot:)  
> I hope you enjoy.

 

Liam woke up feeling warm and comfortable. He stretched his arms lazily above his head, and arched his back, sighing contently. For the first time in a long time Liam felt safe, and not alone. Liam rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, and sat up slowly. He looked over the side of the bed and saw Zayn sleeping soundly on the floor. Liam smiled, but then he remembered what he had to do. He has to leave the one person who’s managed to make him feel more secure in one day than anyone has in his whole life.

 

Liam didn’t want to leave, that was the last thing he wanted to do. But, he couldn’t burden Zayn. Zayn had a normal life; Liam would only ruin that for him. So, Liam had to leave him and get back to his own life. He had to push away all these silly, unrealistic thoughts, and go back to reality.

 

Liam felt something wet against his cheek, he brought his hand up to his face and touched the wet substance. He realised it was tears, Liam guessed he started crying. He wiped his face harshly to try and scrub everything away. The situation was stressing Liam out, he was feeling that itching need again.

 

Whenever Liam feels stressed, scared, nervous and overwhelmed, Liam’s anxiety would take over and he’d begin scratching. He tried to fight the burning urge to scratch, but he couldn’t control it, he had to scratch. Liam started scratching his right hand like there’s no tomorrow. He scratched until the cuts on his hand started bleeding, he scratched until the burning itch subsided. After about a few minutes of harsh scratching he stopped. Liam looked down at his hand, and grew disgusted. His hand was red and blotchy, with fresh cuts oozing blood.

A normal person would look down at his right hand and feel concerned, Liam got past the point of worry. After years of scratching, it became a part of his life. It was just another thing to add to the list of fucked up things about Liam.

If Liam had to pinpoint a time when he started scratching, he would say it was around middle school. His school years weren’t the easiest for him. He didn’t have many friends, and he was constantly bullied. The stress of school, his father, and bullies overtook him and thats when he started scratching. Liam didn’t know why he did it, it just felt good to scratch, it felt good to feel pain.

Liam didn’t know why his hand started itching when he was stressed though, and it wasn’t like he could confront his father about his issue. So Liam just looked up his symptoms online, like any rational person would do. He came across a lot of different things, but the one that made the most sense is eczema. It seemed to fit his situation perfectly, so that’s what Liam accepted it as.

He tried to fix his problem. Liam bought all the creams and tried all the different ways to cure it, but none of them worked. Liam continued to scratch, he figured it was because he was constantly feeling nervous, and overwhelmed, so the burning itch continued. Liam just stopped trying, he accepted it because there was nothing else he could really do. He tries to hide his messed up hand to the public eye as much as possible. That’s probably why Zayn hasn’t noticed yet. Liam almost got caught when Zayn unexpectedly grabbed his hand, but luckily Zayn grabbed his left hand.

Well, Liam wouldn’t have to try and hide it from him much longer considering he’s about to leave Zayn for good.

Liam needed to leave right now before Zayn wakes up. He definitely doesn't want to face Zayn, he wouldn’t be able to resist him.

The younger boy slowly crawls his way off of the mattress, careful not to make any sudden movements or loud noises. He makes it to the edge of the mattress and tries to move himself so he can put one foot down. Liam jostles around slowly, his body now in a crouched position. If only Liam could just get his right leg from under his butt, the whole situation would be a lot easier.

Liam lifts his right leg and brings it around his body, he successfully manages to put his right leg onto the ground. Okay, now he has to get his left leg and he’s scott free. His left leg was a lot easier to put on the ground. Liam straightens himself out, and smiles in triumph.

Now Liam just has to walk out of the room, and he’ll be out of Zayn’s life forever. He doesn’t have any belongings to get, so he just has to walk out. It’s only a few little steps, not a big deal. Liam can totally do this.

He tip toes over to the door, and takes one last look at Zayn who is still sleeping on the floor. He is laying on his side with his head buried into the pillow. Zayn’s angelic face is fanned by his soft, dark hair. Liam loses his breath.

Liam’s eyes begin to water, “Thank you Zayn, for everything,” Liam retreats his gaze and takes a long breathe. He looks back at the door, and grabs the doorknob. He turns it as quietly as he can, and opens the door.

Liam walks out the door and closes it behind him. He gets the burning itch to scratch again, but this time he doesn’t scratch. He lets it itch, and keeps walking, never looking back.

**  
  
**

~*~*~

**  
  
**

Liam’s first thought after he walks out of the motel is; where the hell does he go from here. Liam doesn’t have any money, no clothes, and no where to go. Usually Liam would go hooking right about now, but it is the early morning and he doubts he’ll be able to get any customers at this time.

Liam figures there isn’t anything else he can really do, so he heads over to his usual corner, and waits. Usually hookers have places, or brothels to go to. They have pimps, or whoever else like that. Liam doesn’t, he doesn’t have a pimp or a brothel. He gets all his money from the streets. There’s no other way he can do it. Liam didn’t want to have a connection to anybody in this business. He just wanted to get the money he needed and leave.

Hes heard horror stories about people trying to get out of their contract or away from their pimp and they always ended up dead somewhere. Liam didn’t want to have anything to do with that stuff. So, he just goes to different corners, and waits. Waits for the next man to come and claim him for the night. He never gets women, maybe it’s because he appeals more to men.

Liam does have that innocent, young boy look that men usually go for; they call him sweet. Women usually want a man, not a naive, young boy.

Liam gets to his usual spot and is surprised to see a few more prostitutes there as well. He guesses they’re as desperate as he is. He just hopes that they don’t take potential clients away from him.

Liam makes his way over to a small spot near the wall, and leans against it. He tries to look suave as he does it, he most likely doesn’t.

Liam looks down at himself and realises he’s still wearing Zayn’s clothes. Fuck. Oh well, it’s not like Zayn will miss them. Liam didn’t have any clothes of his own, so he hopes Zayn won’t mind.

Zayn. It hasn’t even been a full hour, and he still misses him. Shake it off Liam. It’s over. He isn’t in your life anymore.

Liam is shaken out of his thoughts when a man walks into his vision. Liam looks up into the man’s eyes and sees that he is a middle aged man that towers over him with dark, penetrating eyes. He eyes Liam up like a prize.

“How much?”

The man gets straight to the point, apparently. Liam just tries to play it cool, in order to seal the deal.

“20 for a handjob, 40 for a blow job, and 80 for a fuck,” Liam says with a surprisingly smooth voice.

The man ponders it over and looks Liam up and down a few times as if he’s thinking how much Liam is worth. “Come with me, I have a room in a nearby hotel. You’ll get your money there,” the man states.

Liam doesn’t know what this guy wants, but he’ll take anything at this point. So he silently follows this grim looking man down the street to a familiar hotel that Liam has been to on many occasions for the same reason.

They both walk straight past the reception desk and head up the stairs to what Liam presumes is his room.

The second they stand in front of the door, Liam starts to get a little nervous. He immediately puts those feelings to the back of his mind. He needs the money.

Liam leans up against the wall next to the door, while the man gets his key card out to open the room. Liam internally giggles at the irony of the situation. The last time he was leaning on the wall, waiting for a guy to open the door for him was Zayn. Oh how different the circumstances are.

The middle aged man opens the door to the room and looks at Liam expectantly. The younger boy rolls his eyes and walks into the room; the man following behind him.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Liam turns around facing the man, “what do you want?”

The man slams the door shut, and locks the door. He turns around and looks at Liam with a menacing look in his eyes.

Liam shrinks under the gaze and takes a few steps back, “Come on, j-just tell me what you want.”

The guy doesn’t respond, he just walks toward Liam with a confident stride until he was standing right in front of the smaller boy.

Liam has to look up in order to meet the man’s gaze. Liam could feel the urge to scratch again; he just pulls the sleeve of his shirt over his hand and bites his lip.

The man grins at his nervous demeanor, and gently places his hand on Liam’s heating cheek, “You’re so cute, precious.”

The smaller boy gulps and says what he thinks he should say, “T-thank you, sir,”

 

The man’s grin becomes devilish, “How polite,” he rubs the pad of his thumb across Liam’s bottom lip, “I’m going to enjoy you.”

Liam grew disgusted at the gesture, and keeps repeating a montre in his own head; _for the money, for the money, for the money._

“On your knees boy,” the man commands.

 

 

Liam shakily lowers himself to his knees and looks up at the greasy man with big eyes. Guys like this usually like it when Liam does that.

The older man smiles appreciatively, and rubs his hand through Liam’s soft hair, “Go on.”

Liam can do this; he’s done this plenty of times. This guy shouldn’t be any different. So why does it feel so wrong. Well, it’s always been wrong, but for some reason Liam can’t shake the feeling like he’s betraying someone. That if he goes through with this, it makes him more than just a prostitute. Something much more disgusting.

“Come on boy,” the man says agitatedly, “I have to get back to work soon, get a move on.”

That makes it so much worse. This guy is a working man, probably has a family. This man should be with his family, not looking for the next boy to fuck. Liam feels partly at fault, since he’s the one on his knees for him.

Liam can’t keep thinking this way, he’s got a job to do. He can’t get upset.

The younger boy reaches for the older man’s pants and undoes them with practiced hands. Liam hurriedly takes the man’s cock out of his pants; the guy above him was starting to get pushy.

Liam freezes with the older man’s cock in his hand and his mouth inches away from the tip. Usually Liam would get straight to it, but he can’t find it in him to continue.

The man above him doesn’t give him much time to contemplate, because he grabs the back of Liam’s head and shoves his cock down his throat. Liam chokes instinctively.

“That’s it,” the man encourages. He starts fucking his cock in and out of Liam’s mouth.

Liam’s eyes begin to water, and he can feel his saliva running down his chin. The younger boy does his best to relax his throat. He has to at least try to do a decent job. He does his best to alternate between sucking, and using his tongue.

The man above him groans, and starts to fuck him more vigorously, “That’s it, take it like a good whore.”

How cliche, Liam thinks. He just holds onto the man’s thighs, relaxes his throat, and breathes through his nose harshly. He wants this to be over as soon as possible.

As if the Gods were on Liam’s side for once, the guy starts showing signs of his orgasm. Liam tries to pull off, so he doesn’t get the cum in his mouth. He already broke some rules by not forcing this guy to wear a condom.

Liam pushes at the man’s thighs, but the older man holds on tight to the back of Liam’s head and forces him on deeper. Liam whimpers, and he’s really crying now.

“Ugh, yeah take it all slut, take it-ah- take it all,” the man says incoherently, cumming down Liam’s throat.

Liam really doesn’t want to swallow, but it looks like this guy isn’t giving him much of a choice. So all Liam can do is swallow as much as he can, in order to not choke. Some of the cum dribbles down his chin, mixing in with his saliva.

The man finally pulls out with one more slow thrust, “Not bad, kid.” He pulls his pants up, and grabs his wallet pulling out a 40 dollar bill.

He tosses it to Liam who is still kneeling on the ground, wiping his mouth.

“See you around,” the man winks and leaves Liam alone in the room.

Liam picks up the bill from the ground, and knows he doesn’t have nearly enough for the night. He would need to go through two more clients, at least.

Liam really misses Zayn’s shitty motel now.

**  
  
~*~*~**


	4. Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did my best with editing, but I miss a few things here and there. If you want to can leave any feedback or suggestions for the next chapter! Enjoy:)

 

“Come on, pick up,” Zayn paced the empty motel room, rubbing a hand through his bed head.

“Come on you asshole, answer the fucking phone!” Zayn yelled completely frustrated, hearing the endless ringing continue.

“Hello?” someone answered groggily.

“Ugh finally!” Zayn stopped pacing at the sound of someone’s voice, “Where the hell have you been? I’ve ringed you a million times!”

“Jeez what’s got your panties in a bunch?”

“Lou don’t start, I’m in no mood,” Zayn sighed looking at the empty motel mattress with a frown.

“Alright, Alright, I’m sorry. What’s going on with my Zaynie?” Louis sing songed.

“Can you just pick me up and take me to the bank please? I’ll explain later,” Zayn slumped down into the mattress.

“Okay, but you owe me, Harry and I were in the middle of a much needed nap,” Louis said. Zayn could hear Harry’s voice in the background, followed by a schoolgirl giggle from Louis.

“Gross. PLease spare me the details,” Zayn whined.

“Sorry,” Louis fucking giggled again, “Where are you?”

“I’m at the Ballagio Motel by the IHop, the one near Club 86,” Zayn explained, laying back on the mattress, resting his head against the pillows. He subconsciously buried his nose in it and inhaled deeply, there was still the lingering smell of LIam left on them.

“Oh right I know where that is, wait, why the heck are you down there- whatever you’ll explain. I’m on my way,” Louis stampered.

“Thanks Lou,” Zayn really didn’t know what he would do without him. Even though he was the reason Zayn lost his dorm in the first place, he always repaid him in some way. Zayn should probably thank Louis for his stupidity, he would have never met Liam if it wasn’t for his crazy ideas. But, then again, he would have never felt this gruelling emptiness from Liam’s absence this morning if it wasn’t for Louis. So, he should actually cuss him out when he sees him. Zayn knows he won’t.

“Yeah, whatever you sod. Just remember you owe me Malik,”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,”

~*~*~

“So please explain why you took in an underage boy to your disgusting motel room in a ghetto neighborhood? Cause I clearly am not understanding,” Louis asked sarcastically.

“He was in trouble Louis. I heard some weird noises going on in the room next over, and I had to check it out, okay? It’s not like I asked for this to happen,” Zayn inquired. He turned up the AC in Louis’ car because it was seriously way too hot in the back seat.

“C’mon Lou, Zayn was just helping the kid out,” Harry said from the passenger seat, “I think you did the right thing Zayn,” Harry turned around in his seat to give Zayn a reassuring smile.

“Thank you Harry,” Zayn patted Harry’s shoulder in thanks, “Besides it doesn’t matter anyway. He was gone when I woke up this morning.”

“Wait, hold up. You’re telling me that this prick up and left you hanging this morning without as much of a goodbye?” Louis took his eyes off the road to look Zayn in the eye, and the raven haired boy nodded with a frown. “After all you did for him too, so ungrateful,” Louis shook his head in disappointment.

Zayn shrugged in response. He didn’t know what he did wrong. He thought everything was cool, it’s not like things were awkward between him and LIam. Or, at least he didn’t think it was. Maybe he just didn’t want to be in Zayn’s presence, not many people want to be lately.

Zayn hasn’t had much luck in the love department lately. Actually he hasn’t had much luck with people in general. The only real friends he has is Louis and Harry, and even then he is on his own most of the time. Zayn just likes to keep to himself, he’s doesn’t approach people and he definitely doesn’t do what he did with Liam. In fact, he can’t think of a time when he’s ever gone out of his way to invite someone into his life like that before. Obviously with the result, he isn’t going to do it anymore. He wishes Liam would have stayed though. He seemed like a really nice guy, well boy really.

Liam just seemed so troubled and vulnerable, Zayn wanted to be there for him. Maybe, help him out of whatever rut he’s in right now. Zayn doesn’t know why, but he just wants to take Liam in and care for him. It’s such a weird thought to have for someone he barely knew, but it just seems right. Like it was his duty to save LIam from whatever it was that he was troubled with.

Zayn needs to stop with these thoughts. Liam is gone. He isn’t coming back, and it’s not like Zayn can go looking for him either. Liam could be anywhere, it would only be a lost cause.

“Alright were here, now hurry up and get your money. I’m hungry,” Louis said, raising his eyebrows clearly indicating that Zayn is going to have to buy him food.

Zayn just grumbles and gets out, Louis smirking his whole way to the ATM.

~*~*~

Liam fixed his hair in the mirror, shaking out his fringe and making sure it landed a little bit in his eyes. He straightened out his hair earlier that day, he got more customers when he did. Liam figured it was because it made him look younger and more innocent.

Liam brushed his hands down his white, button-up shirt and picked at a fuzz on his gray, dress pants. He wanted to make sure he looked good for his customer tonight.

A moderately attractive man came up to him earlier that day on his usual spot in the streets. The man handed him 200 bucks. Two hundred dollars! Liam won’t have to whore himself out for a few days with that kind of money. He can finally take a much needed break.

The young boy shook his hair out one more time. The guy told him to meet him at a rather fancy hotel, Liam was pretty shocked when he first found the place. The hotel had to be at least four stars. The only places Liam goes to do his “business” were smelly motels that weren’t even worth one star. So Liam was pretty shocked to say the least.

 

Liam had walked up to the register, like the man told him to, and told the lady his name. She just smiled and handed him a key card, “Have a lovely time sir,” she said. Liam thanked her and headed to his room.

That’s why Liam wanted this to be perfect, he was kind of excited to be honest. The guy seems really nice, and he’s a handsome looking man. Liam could do much worse in the customer department.

Liam looked at the clock on the wall and read that it was eight o’clock. The guy should be here any second. The young boy ran out of the bathroom and made sure the room wasn’t full of his stuff. He smoothed out the bed sheets and sat down on them.

Liam heard the sound of a keycard unlocking the door, and his heart started pounding. Liam always got nervous before an appointment. Even though he’s done this plenty of times, he always feels like it’s his first. Liam takes a deep breath and waits for the door to open.

The door opened revealing a tall, fit, middle aged man. He had black slicked hair and bright green eyes. The man held a rose in his right hand, and smiled the biggest smile at the sight of the younger boy on the bed.

The man closed the door and walked into the room over to the boy on the bed, “Hello,” he smiled.

Liam looked up at him with big eyes, “Hello,” he tried to sound smooth and sexy.

“You look wonderful,” the man’s gaze ran over the length of Liam’s body.

“Thank you,” Liam looked over the man, he was wearing a tight polo shirt with black pants. “You look nice too,” LIam smiled.

The man smiled back, “Here,” he said handing over the red rose, “It’s almost as gorgeous as you.”

Liam took the rose and blushed, ducking his head in embarrassment, “T-Thank you uhh-”

“Oh, how rude of me,” the man stuck his hand out for Liam to shake, “I’m Drew,”

Liam shook his hand, “Drew,” the small boy repeated, “I’m Liam,”

“I know,” Drew smirked. His grip on Liam’s hand tightened. He used his grip to pull the smaller boy off the bed and into his arms. He placed his large hands on Liam’s waist, and squeezed. Liam squeaked at the action, and placed his hands on Drew’s shoulders, the rose fallen forgotten to the floor. 

“You have the most beautiful eyes,” Drew said while staring into Liam’s soul.

Liam blushed again and tried his best to not look away from the taller man’s gaze. This guy was intense. Usually Liam’s clients just walked in and started barking orders. But, this guy, was sweet. It almost felt like a date to Liam.

“Can I kiss you now?” wait, hold up. Did this guy just ask Liam if he wanted to kiss him. Usually they just take, they never ask for his permission. Drew seems to be breaking all typical cliches.

“Yes,” Liam breathes.

Drew smiles before gently placing his lips on Liam’s. He didn’t immediately force his tongue down Liam’s throat like his clients usually do. It was a nice change for the younger boy. He actually found himself kissing back, giving as much as he was given.

Drew moved his lips slowly over the smaller boy’s. Almost as if he was trying to map out his mouth, find out every way that they moved. The older man sucked Liam’s bottom lip into his mouth and gently bit it. Liam found himself moan out. He could feel Drew smirk against his lips.

Drew pulled away from Liam and smiled down at him. He brought his hand up to the smaller boy’s face and ran his thumb across his bottom lip, “You taste delicious,” he said.

Liam doesn’t know how many more compliments he can take; his face is already flaming with embarrassment. The younger boy just smiled in response, getting tired of saying the words thank you.

Drew ran his hand down Liam’s torso and stopped just above his waist. Liam’s breath hitched and he squeezed his eyes shut which caused the taller man to smirk.

“I want to devour you,” he whispered in the younger boy’s ear. Liam’s eyes shot open, he got that uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Before Liam could respond the older man pushed him forcefully onto the bed. The younger boy gasped and moved up the bed so he could rest his head on the pillows. If this thing gets rough, he wanted to at least start out comfortable.

Drew smirked down at Liam on the bed and pulled his polo shirt over his head. Liam stared at his now bare chest. The guy was definitely toned. He had abs and a smooth patch of hair on his chest. Liam looked at his bulging biceps and sucked in a breath. He hoped this guy would go easy on him, because this man could rip Liam apart if he wanted.

Drew moved onto his pants next, pulling down the zipper slowly, putting on a makeshift strip tease for Liam. The younger boy had to admit it was a nice change, usually he was the one giving strip teases.

The older man kicked off his pants and went for his briefs next. Instead of just taking them off, he snapped the waist band and smiled cheekily. Liam couldn’t help the giggle that left his mouth. He couldn’t help but like Drew, only a little bit.

Drew left his briefs on and climbed onto the bed, hovering over Liam. He placed both hands on either side of the younger boy’s head and stared down at him. Liam looked up at him and placed his hands on Drew’s waist.

He smiled down at Liam and lowered his head so their lips were inches apart. Liam parted his lips and sighed, looking into Drew’s eyes with a heated gaze. He had a part to play after all.

Drew licked his lips and crashed them against Liam’s, eliciting a moan from the boy beneath him. He kissed him smoothly for a minute before he licked Liam’s lips, trying to pry his mouth open. Liam groaned and opened his mouth, feeling the older man’s tongue massage his own.

Liam didn’t want to admit it, but this guy was a good kisser. He could kiss him all day if he could. Liam felt Drew’s hand slide up his body, and he shivered into the kiss.

Suddenly Drew pulled back, and looked down at Liam’s body, “Too many clothes,” he mumbled. He then ripped Liam’s button up shirt open, a few buttons flying off, Liam gasped.

The younger boy was only a little pissed that he ruined his very nice, very expensive shirt. But, whatever, with the money the guy was giving him he could just buy a new one.

 

Liam’s shirt was pulled away and he was left bare chested. Drew gazed at Liam’s exposed body and he became so anxious, almost as if seeing the younger boy like this was driving him mad. He attacked Liam’s neck aggressively and roamed his hands down his body, roughly grabbing onto his hips.

Liam whimpered and did his best to hang on as Drew was ravishing his body. All thoughts of going slow flew out of Drew’s mind the second he saw Liam’s exposed body. He couldn’t contain himself around the younger boy.

The man on top pulled away and went for Liam’s pants. He roughly pulled them down and off, and immediately went for his boxers. Drew wasted no time as he got the boy beneath him naked. Liam only laid back and let him do what he wanted.

The older man looked around frantically for lube and a condom, he reached over to the bedside table and brought them out. He got rid of his own briefs quickly and placed himself in between the younger boy’s legs.

“Do I need to stretch you?” Drew asked. Liam already stretched himself earlier before the older man showed up. He wanted to be prepared.

“No,” Liam replied.

Drew just smiled wickedly and put the condom on and lubed himself up after. He pulled Liam’s legs up and over his shoulders, holding them there as he loomed over him.

“Ready?”

Liam just nodded shakily and mentally prepared himself for the intrusion. Drew wasted no time, and penetrated the smaller boy. Liam squeezed his eyes shut and groaned in pain.

Liam was hoping the man above him would use slow, lazy thrusts. But, instead he was fast, and rough. Using short, and hard thrusts he barely made contact with Liam’s sweet spot. It didn’t matter because this wasn’t about Liam anyway.

Liam just laid back and moaned like a good whore. He made sure to squeeze around the man’s cock and rub soothing hands down Drew’s back.

 

“Fuck, so good,” Drew kept up his short, fast thrusts and made an ugly, scrunched up face as he did it.

Liam didn’t want to look at him as he did this so he tucked his head into the man’s neck and laid kisses there.

Suddenly the thrusts stopped, and the next thing Liam knew was he was being pushed back down onto the mattress with his wrists pinned beside his head.

“Don’t tease you little slut,” Drew attacked Liam’s neck with hard sucks and biting kisses.

Liam just rolled his eyes; Drew wasn’t different at all. No matter how nice they seem in the lead up; they all end up the same in the end.

The man above him began his shallow thrusts again, and moved his mouth up Liam’s jaw and started kissing his cheek messily. He still kept a good hold onto Liam’s wrists, so there was nothing he could do but moan and pretend to love it.

“You’re so- fuck- you’re so p-perfect,” Drew rasped out.

The older man’s thrusts were becoming more erratic, showing he was getting close. He kissed Liam messily and the younger boy internally cursed.

“Tell me you love it,” he pulled back and looked Liam straight in the face, thrusting harder.

“Oh God, I love it. Love your cock so much,” Liam hated that part, he just felt so dirty saying it. The younger boy couldn’t take his gaze anymore so he closed his eyes and moaned, pretending it was out of pleasure. Even though the only friction he was getting on his cock was from Drew’s sloppy thrusts; his prostate not getting hit even once.

With a few more forced thrusts, Drew finally climaxed, shouting Liam’s name in the process. Liam winced from the pressure of which the guy was holding his wrists down.

Drew pulled out and tied off the condom and threw it into the nearby bin. He passed out next to Liam on the bed, and that was his cue.

Liam sat up and winced, he didn’t even notice he got that many bruises. He just got dressed as quickly as he could and made his way out of the hotel. He got his money from Drew earlier that day so he’s good to go. Liam just hopes nobody sees him walking out with an open shirt since the one he had was ripped open.

Walking into the night air, Liam hopes he never has to see that guy again. He was nice and all, but a terrible fuck.

Hopefully his next one won’t be as bad.

**  
~*~*~**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise Ziam will be in the next chapter! Thank you all for reading!


	5. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, ya'll can kill me. I'm so sorry for taking a life time to post this chapter. I tried to make this chapter longer because of my absence and I knew I didn't want to post a short ch. I hope you guys enjoy and feel free to leave any comments or suggestions. Please leave suggestions for the next chapter because I've been having terrible writers block. Also i'm not the best editor so there will most likely be mistakes I've missed.

 

Zayn carried the next box into his new apartment. He placed the heavy box on top of the kitchen counter and sighed, “Finally, all done.”

Louis and Harry came walking into the small kitchen each carrying a box of their own, placing both boxes on the counter as well. “Yeah and I’m bloody sweating up a mountain,” Louis complained wiping sweat from his forehead.

“That doesn’t really make any sense,” Harry stated.

Louis looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow, “Yes Harry, real nice, kick me while I’m down why don’t you?” Louis replied sarcastically, whacking Harry in the arm, “Can’t you see I am in no state to come up with the right terminology.”

Harry shrugged, “Still wrong though.”

“I swear to God Harold you will not be getting any dick tonight.”

“Aww Lou, come on,” Harry pouted.

“Nope, none. You took that away because you don’t know how to keep your overly large mouth shut.” Louis finished, crossing his arms.

“Guys, come on. You’re both acting like a bunch of toddlers,” Zayn said aggrivated with them bickering.  

“Well maybe you should tell Harold-”

“Oh my god Louis! Shut up for fucks sake!” Zayn yelled.

Louis shut his mouth with a clamp and looked at Harry with a shocked expression. Harry looked equally as shocked at Zayn’s outburst. Neither said a word, afraid to upset the frustrated boy further.

Zayn leaned his elbows onto the kitchen counter, and put his head in his hands, “Guys, I’m sorry. Everything is just a bit much.”

Louis frowned and walked over to Zayn, rubbing his hand soothingly down the other’s back. “Come on Zaynie, don’t be down. You just got this new flat, and we love you of course.” Louis smiled a cheesy smile.

Zayn giggled, “Yeah well, it would be better if I didn’t have to share this flat with a complete stranger.”

“Don’t think of them as a stranger, you’ll be best mates with this guy in no time. I’m sure you’ll get on,” Harry said coming over to stand next to Louis and Zayn.

“Yeah, what Curly said. Not to mention, nobody can hate that pretty face of yours,” Louis added pinching Zayn’s cheeks. Zayn laughed, swatting Louis’ grabbing hands away.

“Speaking of your new flat mate, where is he?” Harry asked.

Zayn sighed, “He doesn’t come until tomorrow. He’s moving in from California.”

“Ooh, an American? He should be some hot surfer bro, with tanned skin, and silky, blonde hair,” Louis enthused.

Harry frowned, “Heeeeeeeey, don’t get too excited now.”

Louis swatted Harry’s chest playfully, “Oh hush, not for me. But, no ones stopping our Zaynie here from getting into that sandy action,” Louis wiggled his eyebrows.

“Sandy action?” Harry asked.

“Yes Harry, because he’s from California. I bet he has sand coming out of every crevice,” Louis answered.

“Gross,” Zayn replied, “I can’t hook up with him Louis, that would be disastrous.”

“Why not?” Louis pouted.

Before Zayn could reply Harry said, “Is it because of that boy you met at that motel?” Louis stomped on Harry’s foot, “Ouch!” Louis gave him a death glare, Harry put his hands up in defense.

Zayn’s eyes widened, “What? No!” Zayn scoffed, “I haven’t seen him for weeks, I don’t even remember his name.”

That was a complete lie. Zayn remembered the boy’s name, in fact he remembered the way he smelled like sweet caramel and strawberries. Sadly, Zayn couldn’t forget about Liam. He thought about the younger boy at least ten times a day.

Zayn wanted to know if he was okay, he wanted to know where the boy was. Zayn knew he shouldn’t worry about him, but he couldn’t help it. Liam looked so alone, and helpless. Zayn wanted to know his life story, he wanted to know why Liam lived the way he did.

It’s been three whole weeks since Zayn last saw the younger boy. Zayn went back to the same motel a few times after their first encounter, but he hasn’t had any luck in finding the boy there afterwards. It was as if Liam disappeared off the face of the Earth. No matter where Zayn looked, he couldn’t find him. After a while, Zayn gave up. He figured Liam would be okay, he had to have at least one person looking after him, or at least he hoped.

“Plus,” Zayn continued, “He’s my roommate, I need his money in order to live here. What happens if we hook up and then he wants to leave? Or worse, he stays, and it’s extremely awkward afterward. I don’t want to live in that kind of environment.”

“Fine, whatever, then don’t come crying to me at four in the morning when you have blue balls,” Louis replied.

It was Harry’s turn to whack Louis in the arm, “Lou!”

“What? Don’t act like it’s not true. Zayn hasn’t gotten laid in forever, I’m surprised his balls haven’t fallen off,” Louis stated.

Zayn cleared his throat, “Excuse me, I’m still here.”

Louis rolled his eyes, “That’s the point Zayn.”

“Not everyone needs to have sex as much as you do Tomlinson, you’re like a fucking jack rabbit,” Zayn teased.

Harry giggled into his hand, trying to repress his laughter. Louis looked offended, “Excuse me! I have you know it’s Harold who needs to get fu-”

“Okay! Thank you for that,” Zayn interrupted. “Now are you guys going to help me unpack or stand there uselessly?”

Louis groaned, “Come on Zayn, we just finished carrying in all of your boxes full of vain hair products. Can we at least eat first?”

Zayn rolled his eyes, “Fine, I’ll order a pizza.”

“Yay!” Louis cheered as Harry smiled sweetly at his boyfriend.

“I’m guessing none of you will be helping with the pay of this pizza?” Zayn sighed.

“You know me too well Malik.”

~*~*~

Zayn collapsed onto his battered sofa and closed his eyes. He just finished unpacking all of his stuff and he’s about ready to pass out. Louis and Harry left around ten, saying they needed some “alone time,” leaving Zayn to finish unpacking the kitchen and his room by himself.

It was around one in the morning now. Zayn could have given up or finished the next day, but he wanted to make sure he was all done by the time his new roomate came around. He wanted to make a decent impression, he was going to have to live with this guy for a long time.

Zayn honestly just wanted to prolong going to bed; he didn’t get much sleep lately. Most of the time, Zayn would climb into bed, get under the covers, close his eyes, and think. It’s not like the black haired man wanted to sit up all night; his mind never seemed to end.

HIs brain was like a factory, there was different parts and functions that all worked to make Zayn move, think, feel, and so on. Except, some of his parts would break down, or lose its function/purpose. Sometimes his body wouldn’t want to climb out of bed that day, or his mind wouldn’t work properly.

The past few weeks Zayn’s mind was not functioning properly. His mind wasn’t working when he needed it to, like at work or at school. But, when he’s lying in bed, late at night, his mind would start running a mile a minute. Zayn thinks it’s a malfunction. His mind is working at all the wrong times and he’s not sure how to fix it.

He wouldn’t think about anything in particular at night. Sometimes it was simple things, like what he had to accomplish the next day, the conversation he had with his mom earlier in the day, or maybe just the tv show he last watched. It was easier to think about the little things in his life than the actual problems he avoids facing.

Most of the nights, like tonight, he would think about the hard things. He would think about how he’s going to pay his next bill, or what he was going to do after school, or how lonely he is. Zayn thought about that last one a lot. He guesses it was because he was constantly reminded of how alone he actually was. Sure, he had friends, but they weren’t people who were actually there for him.

The people in Zayn’s life are just people, people in passing that don’t have an actual effect on him. Zayn has his family and Louis and Harry. He doesn’t really have anybody he could rely on. Zayn has people he could talk to on occasion, but he doesn’t have someone who is there for him. Louis has Harry, his family has each other, and that just leaves him.

Zayn is desperate to have a connection with someone. He wants to have someone he can rely on, and he wants someone to rely on him too. Zayn knows that sounds stupid, but he just wants to have a purpose. He feels so useless; he feels like his life has no meaning. All he does is go to school, go to work, and come home. Zayn wants more.

Zayn wants to come home feeling fulfilled; he wants to feel like he has a purpose. Zayn wants someone to rely on him, he wants someone to come home to.

Zayn hasn’t cared for someone in that way in a long time, nobody has given him that spark he so desperately is searching for. Liam was that spark. He knows it’s dumb to feel that way about someone he doesn’t even know, but when he helped Liam, he felt needed. Zayn felt like he had a purpose, he helped someone that day, he made a difference in someone’s life.

On night’s like this, he lies awake, thinking. Zayn stared up at the living room ceiling and hoped for more, hoped for better. He needed to find that fire inside of him. Whether that fire would start with an event, or a person, he just hopes it happens soon.

Zayn fell asleep on the couch thinking about finding his life.

~*~*~

Zayn awoke with a start. He woke up from the feeling of someone shaking him awake. It takes him a second to get his head to focus, and he realises he’s still in his living room, on the couch.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” a voice says. Zayn looks up and sees a blonde boy is standing over him. Zayn sits frozen.

“You were knocked out when I came in,” the man says with a smile, “I’m Ryan,” he says sticking his hand out for Zayn to shake. Right, Zayn should probably stop staring dumbfounded at this man and actually greet himself.

Zayn cannot believe this is the first impression for his new roomate. This guy, Ryan, probably thinks he’s an idiot or some weirdo for passing out on a rather uncomfortable couch. Not to mention Ryan is extremely attractive, of course he is. Zayn has an act for embarrassing himself in front of attractive people.

Ryan is tall, fit, not too much muscle, but just the right amount to make it interesting. Ryan has bright green eyes, and a soft face with shaggy, blonde hair. Ryan reminds Zayn of Sam in “Supernatural,” the season one version, which is kind of ironic since he watches that show too.

Zayn gets out of his daze and takes Ryan’s hand, “Zayn,” he says, his voice a little groggy. Zayn stands up to get on eye to eye level with the taller boy, and clears his throat, “Sorry about that, I was trying to make a good impression on you. Obviously I kind of messed that bit up,” Zayn chuckles awkwardly.

Ryan laughs back, “It’s no problem bro. Looks like you had a rough night,” Ryan gives him a soft smile.

“Uhh, yeah, I guess,” Zayn looks at the floor in embarrassment, “Was up unpacking,” Zayn adds lamely. The black haired boy looks around the room and scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah I can see that, looks proper organized,” Ryan glances around the apartment himself, “Well, for your hard work, I can order some take out,” the blonde boy suggests.

“Oh no, it’s okay. You don’t have to do that,” Zayn shakes his head.

“It’s no problem, come on. Let me treat you,” Ryan winks.

Zayn’s breath catches in his throat, “Y-Yeah okay. Thanks,” Zayn smiles awkwardly. Zayn really hates how lame he is. He wishes he could act normal around people instead of acting like a total weirdo. _This is why you don’t have any friends,_ Zayn thinks.

“Awesome dude, I’ll call right now,” Ryan smiles and goes into the kitchen to use their phone. Zayn sighs in relief once he leaves the room and tries not to think about how smooth Ryan’s American accent sounded. Resisting his new roomate was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

~*~*~

It’s been about a week since Ryan first moved in. Zayn’s first encounter with the American boy was a little awkward, but once they sat down and ate the take out they really got to know each other.

Zayn found out that Ryan was a music major at one of the near by Universities. The darker haired boy had asked why Ryan would come to the UK to go to school when California had better schools for music down there.

Ryan said he wanted to get away from his home, he wanted a fresh start with new people and a completely new environment. Zayn understood that completely, Zayn just wishes he had as much balls as Ryan does to make such a big move.

The blonde boy also said he always wanted to live in the UK, he said he was tired of the consistently hot weather and wanted a climate change. Zayn felt confused as to why anybody would choose London weather over LA weather, but who is he to judge.

Living with Ryan was actually pleasantly nice. Zayn never had any problems with him. Ryan never left any messes, and he would always cook dinner, which is amazing since Zayn can’t cook to save his life.

Zayn also got along with Ryan really well, their conversations flowed easily. Zayn was glad he could make such an easy connection with someone new, they have a lot of the same interests.

Ryan was just a really good guy, he was really chill, which was good since Zayn is a mellow person himself. Zayn was glad to find a friend in someone. Yes, friend. Ryan and him did make a connection but as nothing more than friends. Zayn couldn’t imagine himself ever being with Ryan, and they just act like “bros” as Ryan puts it.

Plus, Zayn doesn’t even know if Ryan likes guys in the first place. He doesn’t talk about his love life or anything like that so Zayn has no idea what he might be into. It doesn’t matter anyway since Zayn and him are strictly friends.

 

Ryan has yet to meet Louis and Harry; Zayn has been trying to prolong that meeting for as long as he can. He doesn’t want them to scare Ryan off. It’s not easy for Zayn to make an honest to God friend, so he’s hoping Ryan won’t change his mind and leave.

Sadly, Zayn can’t prolong their meeting for long since Ryan wants to meet new people because hes new to the area. This lead to Ryan asking if he had any friends, so of course Zayn was going to say yes. He didn’t want to seem like the complete loser he was in front of Ryan.

This was the reason why Zayn was standing in a dimly lit club that was crowded with way too many people. Louis and Harry were chatting Ryan up a storm. Louis had his arm over Ryan’s shoulder practically shoving a drink down his throat. Harry was on Ryan’s other side laughing like a mad man.

Leave it to Louis to already invade somebody else’s space. Ryan doesn’t seem opposed to it either though, he looks like hes having a good time so Zayn just leaves them to it.

Clubs aren’t really Zayn’s scene, he doesn’t like to get smashed like Louis does so he always finds a booth and watches the craziness unfold. Zayn finds a booth in the far corner and gets comfy there. He’s nursing a small glass of beer which is about as much drinking as he planned tonight.

Zayn sees Louis, Harry and Ryan by the bar. Louis keeps buying them drinks and talking extremely loudly while Harry tries to keep a hold on his drunk off his ass boyfriend. Ryan looks like hes trying to focus on whatever Louis is saying but he keeps dropping his eyes like he’s about to pass out any second. Zayn can’t believe they’ve only been here for about twenty minutes and already those two were drunk. Harry is the designated driver so he hasn’t drunk a drop.

Zayn shakes his head at their antics and moves his eyes across the crowd. The crowd was inhabited with young, college kids. Mostly slutty, half naked girls and drunk boys dancing terribly on them.

Zayn sighed, still nobody interesting. It was as if someone grabbed the two most cliche looking people and cloned them twenty times over. It was ridiculous how processed everything was nowadays.

Zayn wasn’t in the mood to see drunk, horny kids grind all over each other. He got up and went back over to where Ryan was by the bar to tell him that he wanted to leave. Zayn didn’t expect Ryan to go back with him, the night is still young and most people his age actually want to have a good time.

Ryan was leaning against the bar facing the bartender, but turned around once he saw Zayn, “Hey! Zayn, my man! What is up with you bro?” Ryan threw his arm over Zayn’s shoulder and sloppily moved with him.

Zayn grimaced at his friend’s alcoholic breath and did his best to steady him by putting a hand on his stomach, “Woah, hey there. You alright?” Zayn asked.

Ryan stumbled a bit and burped, “Yeaaah dude, I-I’m freaking awesome,” Ryan paused and looked at Zayn’s empty drink, “Dude, we got to get you ‘nother one. Gotta get proper drunk,” he laughed and went to face the bartender again.

Before Ryan could order Zayn a drink, Zayn stopped him and grabbed his friend’s waist to pull him away, “Come on man. You’ve had way too much to drink, let’s head back yeah?” Zayn started to pull Ryan about half way out of the club before Ryan stopped.

“Wait, Hol’ up,” the blonde boy looked around the room and then back at Zayn, his eyes were hazed, “I can’t leave yet. I still haven’t hooked up with anyone.”

Zayn’s eyes widened, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Zayn started to make his way out of the club with Ryan again, when suddenly Ryan stopped and pushed himself away from Zayn.

“No! I have to get with someone!” Ryan shouted, people around them started to stare at them.

“Ryan, let’s relax okay? We don’t want to make a scene,” Zayn spoke calmly and held his hands out to Ryan as if he was trying to soothe an unstable animal.

Ryan looked at Zayn with a confused pout, it was adorable if Zayn was being honest. Zayn put his arm around Ryan and started to pull him out of the club, “Let’s just get some fresh air okay?” Ryan simply nodded and allowed Zayn to lead him out of the club.

Zayn and Ryan stumbled out of the club and Zayn lead Ryan to the lamppost at the end of the street. Once they reached the end of the street, Zayn lent Ryan against the post, “I’m gonna text Harry, tell him we’re leaving,” Zayn pulled his phone out and started texting.

Ryan felt dizzy and sick. He was a little upset that he wasn’t able to get any action, but it was already too late. Ryan looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings and saw someone. Ryan stood up a little straighter and looked over in the alleyway.

The blonde man saw what looked to be a boy standing right outside the alleyway, which was just a few feet away from him. He couldn’t exactly make out his face but he looked cute enough, “Maybe it’s not too late,” Ryan slurred.

Zayn turned around to Ryan at hearing his voice, “What are you talking about?”

Ryan nodded in the direction that the boy was standing in, “D’ya think he’d get with me?” Ryan asked Zayn. Before Zayn could reply Ryan was calling out to the stranger, “Hey sweetheart! Why dontcha come ova here?”

“What are you doing?” Zayn hissed. Zayn couldn’t make out who the person was, but whoever they were turned toward them.

“Relax,” Ryan shushed Zayn and started motioning the stranger to come over to them. Zayn now knew what Ryan was into, but this was not the time to prowl on strange boys in the alleyway.

The stranger was coming over to them and was almost in their view, “Yeah cmon, I won’t bite,” Ryan encouraged.

Finally the boy came into their view and once Zayn realised who it was that Ryan was calling to, he froze.

“Zayn?” Liam looked just as shocked as Zayn felt.

“Wow, you’re even prettier up close,” Ryan said as he eyed Liam up and down. The other two boys weren’t even paying any attention to the drunk man. They just stared at each other, neither knowing what to say.

Liam looked so uncomfortable, he had no idea how to act in front of Zayn and his friend. He looked down at the ground, and scuffed his converse.

Zayn was in a complete daze. The whole world around him disappeared as his eyes focused solely on the brown haired boy in front of him. Zayn couldn’t believe his eyes, he never thought he would ever see this beautiful boy again. Yet, here he is, standing in front of Zayn with his eyes downcast and his shoulders hunched. Zayn wanted to grab him and never let him go.

Zayn was brought out of his daze when Ryan spoke again, “So, lovely, would you like to have a very fun night with me tonight?” Ryan stepped closer to Liam and held his hand out, “‘M Ryan,” he said with a flirtatious smile.

Liam looked at Ryan’s outstretched hand and then Ryan’s face with big, doe eyes. Liam took his hand shyly, “Liam,” he replied.

“Great, so why don’t we go back to my-”

“What are you doing here?” Zayn interrupted Ryan’s proposition and pushed him out of the way. Zayn walked straight up to Liam and got right in his face. Ryan stumbled to the side and looked at Zayn with a hurt expression.

Liam took a step back and looked a little scared at Zayn’s hard expression. “I-I was just walking by,” Liam said glancing between Ryan and Zayn.

“Don’t lie to me Liam. You’re not very good at it,” Zayn was angry. He wanted to know why Liam was standing at a corner of an alleyway right outside of a club. Zayn didn’t want to think Liam was doing what he so horribly hoped he wasn’t.

“What’s going on here? Do you know him?” Ryan asked, starting to sober up a bit.

“Stay out of this Ryan, this doesn’t concern you,” Zayn said sternly, giving Ryan a look that left no room for argument. Ryan lifted his hands in surrender and walked over to the front of the club to wait for Louis and Harry.

Zayn watched Ryan leave them and turned back toward the smaller boy, “Liam, answer my question.”

Liam watched Ryan leave wishing he would stay so he doesn’t have to face Zayn alone. The smaller boy was nervous, seeing Zayn again left a deep ache in his stomach.

Liam knew why he was here, he desperately needed the money tonight. Liam usually wouldn’t be standing on this street, but his usual corner was too crowded and Liam needed to make sure he got a client.

Things haven’t exactly been easy for Liam lately. Recently he’s been getting clients that are way too rough and leave too many bruises. Which meant that Liam couldn’t work as much as he needed to.

The amount of money Liam has been getting has not nearly been enough. He would only get enough money to last him a few days in a motel, food, clothes, etc. Then he would run out and have to find another client.

Liam was on one of those post nights, he has absolutely no money for a motel tonight, so he’s basically homeless. That’s why Liam so desperately needed a job, and that’s why he finds himself standing in front of Zayn with no explanation as to why he’s here.

Liam wants to tell Zayn, but what would that do? Absolutely nothing. It’s not like Zayn would help him or something. In fact, Zayn would probably be disgusted by Liam and then never speak to him again.

Liam knows he can’t tell him, so he just goes for the angry route, that usually works. “That’s none of your business Zayn. I don’t have to explain anything to you, you don’t even know me.”

Zayn’s eyes downcast, “You’re right. I just-” Zayn looks at Liam like he wants to continue but doesn’t know how.

“You just what Zayn? Care? Feel bad? You think just because you helped me once that you’re responsible for me now?” Liam isn’t putting on an act anymore, he’s actually feeling himself get angry.

Zayn doesn’t know anything about Liam; he has no idea what Liam has gone through. How dare he stare at Liam as if he feels bad, as if he gives a shit about him. It’s not fair to Liam, he can’t just waltz into his life like his knight in shining armor. That’s not how life works, especially not for Liam.

“Liam I-” Zayn tries.

“No Zayn,” Liam interjects, “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to pretend to be apart of someone’s life and then just leave, okay!” Liam eye’s are brimming with tears, and his eyebrows are doing that terrible pull.

“Liam please, just let me-” Zayn reaches out to Liam, hoping to pull him into a hug. Zayn can’t stand to see Liam like this.

Liam’s body instinctively moves toward Zayn, but at the last second he shoves him away, “No! J-Just leave me alone!” Liam’s voice cracks at the end, and Zayn’s heart breaks.

“What’s going on here?” Both boys look to see who the voice came from. Harry comes walking up with Louis on his arm, and Ryan walking right beside him. “Is everything okay?” Harry continues.

“Yeah Harry, it’s fine. Just give me a second,” Zayn gives Harry a pleading look.

“Alright, just be careful,” Harry sighs. He starts walking away, trying to hold Louis up because he’s basically passed out. Ryan glares at Zayn, but follows after Harry. Zayn is definitely not looking forward to that conversation later.

Zayn turns back to Liam to see him staring at the ground. “Liam, just-” Zayn pauses, he has no idea of what to say. Liam looks up at him with a hard expression, daring him to say anything else. Zayn knows Liam isn’t angry, he’s more upset. Zayn can see it in Liam’s tearful eyes.

Zayn reaches into his pocket to grab his wallet, and pulls out a card, “Liam, just take this please, it’s my card. It has all of my information on it.” Zayn holds the card out for Liam to take.

Liam hesitates before slowly taking the card from Zayn, their fingers brushing slightly. Liam looks down at the card seeing Zayn’s number written on it. “Zayn, I-”

“Just take it Liam. Please,” Zayn’s eyes are pleading. Liam only nods his head and stuffs the card into his pocket.

“Umm, thanks,” Liam shuffles his feet awkwardly.

“It’s no problem. Just call. Whenever,” Zayn looks at Liam earnestly, “I want you to know that you have someone. You can call no matter what happens. I-I want to help you, but I know you won’t let me. So, just, call.” Zayn finishes with a small, encouraging smile.

Liam smiles back, his body is thrumming, little tingles running through his fingers.

“I should probably,” Zayn points in the direction the boys went, “Don’t want Lou to start throwing up in the car. Long drive back,” Zayn laughs awkwardly.

Liam giggles back, “Yeah, um, thanks Zayn. I guess I’ll be seeing you.” Liam starts walking backwards, still facing Zayn.

Zayn starts mimicking his actions and waves, “Bye Liam,” he smiles.

Liam smiles back, “Goodbye Zayn.” With one final wave, Liam turns around and starts walking away, smiling to himself.

Zayn watches him walk for a second before he starts walking to Harry’s car. Zayn hopes he’ll be seeing him again.

After a minute of walking, Liam’s smile fades off his face. His night has only started, he still needs money after all.

**  
~*~*~**

**Author's Note:**

> Add me on tumblr if you would like  
> http://theseasonrevolvesaroundziam.tumblr.com/


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